


The Importance of A Second Being

by Taishou



Category: Persona 5, Persona Series, persona - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/F, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Ghost!Ryuji, M/M, Multi, Murder, Mutual Pining, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Past Abuse, Past Character Death, Pining, Slice of Life, Who has a grudge on Ryuji.., ghost au, yes ryuji is dead
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-19
Updated: 2020-02-19
Packaged: 2021-02-28 00:55:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,864
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22805224
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Taishou/pseuds/Taishou
Summary: Eight years of being out and about certainly made you wish for the more simpler things in life. He had become a detective, a smart man who could deduct any sorts of foolish criminal acts, and bring them all to justice just as he said he would. Nothing stopped him from plunging down great lengths of files and folders to bring about new information, to spend countless nights without sleep finding just what he needed. Goro Akechi was the newest star--what else could he ever want?
Relationships: Akechi Goro & Niijima Makoto, Akechi Goro/Sakamoto Ryuji, Kurusu Akira/Takamaki Ann, Niijima Makoto & Okumura Haru, implied relationships - Relationship
Comments: 1
Kudos: 18





	The Importance of A Second Being

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first big Persona fic and it's about my favorite rarepair... :,D 
> 
> I love LOVE angst and ghost aus cause they're very interesting to start with. I wanted to get the first chapter done so I could continue the second one, but this was more of a worldbuilding chapter! I hope you enjoy it :D

If things had gone smoother with his father, maybe he wouldn’t have been in such a situation as to show off just how right Goro was. Shido always found something to tear down on him, get him to lose faith in nearly everything he had done, to leave him a husk and empty soul once he was finished sucking him dry of every emotion. Did it stop Goro at any chance? Of course not. 

He knew he was a prodigy for many reasons than one, an ace detective and someone so high in academics, he had a future that many would dream to have because of his status. Problem is, he never really wanted to become this detective with phony smiles and plastic gazes; it just simply came to the point where looking tired and having people worry and pity for him was enough. His fans were easy to sway in many ways, giving him a bit of authority in his rather controlled life. 

There was one thing he loved so much more than anything else that his father tried to force him out of; ghost hunting. It had come when he was a lonesome orphan trying to find his own family to go to with warm smiles and familiar kisses. There was such a thing as sneaking around the orphanages during the late hours, snatching left over food and gazing up at the stars for longer than he should have. If the stars were so free, why was he still in captivity like a zoo animal? 

Cold spots were the first to really give him the introduction to the paranormal. He hadn’t believed in anything so preposterous at first, maybe there had been an issue with the air conditioning, or the soggy wooden floors had begun to crack open to let the chilly air escape into the confines of space. Surely that was all it had to be and nothing more, nothing so downright idiotic as ghosts and the such. Even with his doubts, he began to search the spaces for more of these new sensations. 

He had begun to search up just what cold spots could mean and found more than he bargained for. Poltergeists? Orbs? Weird noises? It was just far too dumb to comprehend it as important! But with his lack of attention around his stagnant world, he delve more into the articles and texts that swallowed him whole. 

Something about this just seemed to pique his interest in his ugly world. Like a new form had turned its head to stare down at him for the first time in his life, to actually pay attention to him. This passion to see things in a new light, to see spirits that too had to struggle with life before facing a death that was unsatisfying and unjust… It made him crave more, to see if there were any others in this world that had to suffer the cacophony of Earth and its horrible people. 

He presumes he had an encounter with a ghost during his time in that specific orphanage, a little girl with a lot to talk about. It was in the middle of the night, when no one had dared step outside except for Goro himself. Why would he listen to rules? This was a chance to find his first ghost. 

She had been sitting on top of the kitchen table when he found her, twin pigtails low on her head and her legs kicking the air with no weight against them. She was pale, eyes a cold brown and the smile on her face just barely visible with the blacks that blended in with her ghostly skin. Had nobody seen her before? She was clear as day to him, with the way she bounced on the table almost airily and smiling at nothing in general.. She had to have been seen by someone other than him. 

When the girl caught his gaze, she froze in the middle of her tracks. Dead eyes bore into his, leaving him more uneased than anything he’s ever been through at that time. Who was she? Why was she here?

It took quite a lot for Goro to speak up from his shock, shaking his head once or twice to make sure that this was real life and not a dream. While he wasn’t exactly the most literate boy during his childhood days, he did try to make his voice polite to the gaping child. 

“Who are you?” 

His first words weren’t the most ideal, but he truly didn’t understand where she came from. She couldn’t be a ghost, could she? Even after all this time spent searching through countless articles, they were supposed to be unreal, a fool’s tale spun through webbing so many times it was as popular as breathing, right? That’s what it should have been, right?

“Nanako. Nanako Dojima.” It seemed she was shocked just as much as he was, leaning back protectively even with her small smile. “How can you see me..?”

He just shrugs, glancing down at his fumbling hands that seemed to be wondering as much as him. “I don’t know. I just saw you on the kitchen table and wanted to see if I knew you.” 

“I don’t think you do.” She laughs, a bubbly sound compared to the more deafening shouts the children would usually have. “But that’s okay! I’m just happy to talk to someone.” 

He smiles softly at the girl, taking a step closer to her. “I’m Goro Akechi. How long have you been here..?” 

“I died at a hospital.” She murmurs, her smile fading just as soon as she spoke. “My soul wandered to here, where other children seemed to suffer as much as me. I’m confused sometimes.. Why am I still here if I was supposed to die?” 

If Goro knew a little better about how to handle this, he would try to come up with it. But this was something entirely new, with the way she seemed to slouch down with an unknown purpose.. She looked so lost, unsure of herself so much more than he’d expect to see from a ghostly object. It was that first twinge of sympathy that made him pace close to her and sit down beside her. “Um.. maybe you’re watching over us orphans. You think..?”

It’s a polite hum, her legs beginning to kick again. She seemed so cold, not even there and distant even if he was right there beside her. “Maybe.” She smiles up at him, brown eyes staring into carmine. “Why can you see me?”

“Um..” Goro shifts. Why  _ could  _ he see her? This has never happened to him before, so what spurred this new change? What made him see her..? “I don’t know.” 

Nanako just smiles, twirling her pigtail subconsciously. “That’s okay. I’m glad you can see me though! You can be my best friend.” Her smile is what radiates this rather dusty and dark building, even if she was a ghostly figure that no one seemed to remember. It made him smile in the process, a soft bloom of warmth moving through his veins. 

“Yeah. Let’s be friends.” 

The problem with being friends with a ghost inside an orphanage was well.. You get taken out of it a lot. Goro had been through a lot of families, and not once did they wish to keep him due to his rebellious and childish acts. He was a damned child to so many, and at this point, at the age of eight, he had begun to believe it himself. Going back to the orphanage wasn’t a problem anymore, it was just taxing. He’d see other kids getting their families while he came back after maybe one or two weeks. It sucked. 

Of course, Nanako was a big help during these times, always keeping him on his toes whenever he went to a new home. Sometimes he wished she was a real person, someone he could touch or hug, anything that would give him the belief that someone was truly there for him. 

When he turned ten, two years after he first met the ghost, he broke the dam that was cracking for a long time. 

“I’m leaving.” 

Nanako’s eyes widen, still childish and the same dull brown. “To a new family?” 

“No. I’m running out of here.”

Why did it hurt so bad when he glanced up at her to see hurt? What did he do? Shouldn’t she be relieved, to never see his face again over and over? He’d at least be relieved if some scumbag like him finally gave up and ran away. 

“But I thought..” She starts, before she shuts her mouth, clearly thinking better of it. “I thought you were going to keep trying..”

Nanako and Goro had made a promise all those years ago; a promise that Goro had to break if he wanted to get out of here. It was a promise that shackled him to this orphanage, to leave him going through the same cycle relentlessly. He couldn’t do this anymore, he had enough. 

“I can’t anymore, Nanako.” His foot tapped on the wood floor, hands clenching to a shabby suitcase. He hadn’t even dared to take a gander at her face after that first glance. “I can’t keep going like this.” 

“Where will you go?” As if on instinct to her question, he finally takes a look at her face and his heart burns with shame. 

Her eyebrows are upturned, pout clear on her face and eyes holding something new besides the dull colors. Tears brimmed them, and her knuckles were a shocking white as she tightened her grip on the table she always sat on. “Where will you go?” She says again, egging him to speak. 

“I… Don’t know. But I’ll find something, okay?” His white knuckle finally lets go of the hilt of the suitcase, balling into a fist except for his pinkie that raised between them. “I promise that.” 

“You know I can’t pinkie promise you..” Her frown deepens, only solidifying his resolve. 

He’s hurting her, so he has to leave. 

“I’ll take care of myself, Nanako. This is my chance to show justice to the world. To the both of us.. Do you want that?” 

“No. Not when my best friend is leaving me..” 

His heart hurts, it screams at him to stop this, to stay with his friend, to be there for her every day and every night, to talk about their pasts and gaze at the stars they so desperately clung to. Things just couldn’t be the same, however. He was growing older, and she was stagnant, like frozen rivers that lost its will to move during a snowy day. 

“I have to leave. But I’ll be okay for you. I’ll take care of myself, and I’ll make sure one day that I’ll see you again.” Once again, his pinkie raises forward, sticking closely to her faded chest. “I promise. Truly.”

There’s conflict in her eyes. Reading all the emotions on her face only pains him more, noticing glimmers of regret, hopelessness, so much more that he just couldn’t pinpoint.. It took a lot of will for him to keep his hand up. Finally though, she sighs and raises her own, interlocking her graying finger with his. “Please promise.” 

He never really felt her finger the first time they pinkie promised; it was just a habit at this point, to hope for touch that he didn’t gain near her. It was just cold air, his finger bent awkwardly against a misty one. “I promise.” 

~~

Eight years of being out and about certainly made you wish for the more simpler things in life. He had become a detective, a smart man who could deduct any sorts of foolish criminal acts, and bring them all to justice just as he said he would. Nothing stopped him from plunging down great lengths of files and folders to bring about new information, to spend countless nights without sleep finding just what he needed. Goro Akechi was the newest star--what else could he ever want?

A real home. 

He had stepped inside a rather lifeless apartment building, signature suitcase glimmering in the sunlight that shone out of the massive window panes. It was a massive heatwave, leaving many around him fanning themselves with magazines, or even dunking water over the faces near the water fountain. Truly a sight to see when heat causes your brain to go primal. 

Looks had been glanced at when he made his way to the counter of the room, all the stares burning deep in his back. Years of acting seamlessly pulled off, smiling politely to the rest and giving them a quick wave against his will. Once he had seen many of them swoon, he swiped his attention to the desk woman, busying herself with schoolwork. A college student..? 

He clears his throat, gaining her attention quickly and causing her to nearly jump out of her seat. “Oh, I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to startle you.” 

She blinks once, twice, three times-- Ah, her name is Mitsu. Blinking away from her badge, he began to speak since she seemed taken aback. This was normal.

“I was wondering if I could rent an apartment here..? I um.. Am a little embarrassed to ask for such things.” He adds in a fake giggle to his statement, watching as she swallows and nods faster than the wind. 

“Right! Right..” She worms around the other section of the counter and pulls out a whiteboard, stained with ink and names that Goro didn’t bother to look through; these were just normal people living their lives, after all. No criminals. “We have one free room, but I don’t know if we should let you take it.. Unless you want it cheap?”

Cheap? Bargains were something he had gotten used to, but for such a thing as an apartment? It makes his eyes widen, but it’s quickly wiped away with a laugh. “Yes, yes that’s fine!” What could be wrong with this apartment room? A murder? Some activity? 

_ Paranormal  _ activity? 

Thoughts race through his mind, craving for a new adventure to grasp him by the hands. If there was a thing for paranormal activity, maybe he could find a new case that was unsolved! It would mean much more to his career, to his schoolwork, to his pride, everything! Maybe even his father would stop turning against him with a deaf ear. 

“Okay. Then here’s.. Your key.” Mitsu hands him a sterling silver key, a tag running through the hole that read “348A” on its surface. What an interesting apartment.. He hadn’t even set foot into it and there was a mysterious aura about it. But before he could even jump up to the elevator, a piece of paper is slid between him and the woman. “Can you hand me an autograph..?”

Ah, he thought so. Fans were everywhere around Shibuya, especially close to urban homes such as these. So he just laughs it off and asks for a pen, quickly signing his name on what he presumes to be homework paper, and bids her adieu before she could snag him further. What a pain. 

Goro sighs when he escapes the stares, messing with his hair out of habit. Paparazzi always had to make things much more difficult, eh? The popularity was far too much on his already stressed brain. Whatever they said about his good looks or smart attitude were nice, but they only held a surface appreciation; people were liars even to fellow actors. 

So he steps through the long hallway once he’s out of the elevator, searching and scanning each name on the apartment doors for his significant. Just where was it..? Ah! 

The last one on the right.

Compared to the more brightly lit and cared doors he had been looking through, this one just seemed.. Dramatically different. It looked old, like it sagged between a modern home and an abandoned piece of junk that stayed only because it needed to. Huh, what an interesting room. Could this place get any better? 

He takes hold of the key, sliding it through his keychain and ripping the paper that stuck out. “Here we go.” Once done, he slides the metal inside the door and twists, hearing a loud thunk that mildly concerned him for what was to come. Well, no turning back now.

The door squeaks, screws protesting more and more the quicker he opens it. It seemed like every part of this room looked old, dust collecting over the floor and leaving it more.. Homey than he expected it to be. Despite its emptiness, it seemed he was going to give it good use. 

He sets down his suitcase and instantly begins his search. Cabinets had nothing but cleaning supplies, the sink worked just fine despite a minor pipe issue, the fridge had nothing rotten inside and seemed clean.. What was wrong about this apartment other than its old door? It confused him, leaving him mystified and pondering for more. With a hand raised up to his chin and pacing around the room, he searched for his answer. 

Here was the thing; Goro wasn’t any professional ghost hunter. All he had was the essentials, leaving him empty-handed with everything else. Maybe he could find a cold spot? If he found something such as that, he could get something interesting that could urge him to search more. 

It was tough though with this little evidence.. The orphanage always held these cold spots, like many kids died inside its walls before he came along. That’s what it was, right? Although, there were always ventilation issues that kept them either begging for warmth or chilling from the cold. 

He hums quietly in the space, the sound reverberating across the empty walls. What could he do? If there wasn’t an issue in the apartment that wasn’t paranormal, then why did it get so.. Shabby? This was one of the few times he was truly interested in such a case, to know what had happened in this apartment he could now call home. 

But.. to his own chagrin, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. 

After countless hours of going through every part of the home, nothing seemed to be merely as interesting as the door was. Maybe they didn’t take care of the door, or the apartment itself and had to leave it. But why would the girl at the desk be so nervous to give him the room? If it wasn’t that important, why had she reacted when he took up her bargain? Why  _ did  _ she give him a bargain? 

What if.. He was now living in an apartment that once held a murderer? 

How ironic, he thought, as he stumbled back to his case that was still at the front of the door. His secrets of using Mementos as a way to kill people for Shido’s gain was not known to the public, but it still made him, the person who had done it, chills. Surely his was for justice, right? The murderer that he presumed lived here probably had no such thing as justice, for that’s how people usually were; they’d kill someone accidentally and try to cover it up. 

His clothes had been tucked neatly in his case somehow, all well-put with the two signature clothing items being his winter outfit and spring outfit for school, and then his sweater vest that still looked pristine and new. He stalked out of the vacant living room and stepped inside his room, which was a little better than the living room, but not massively. His hand wrapped around the drawer and pulled it out to place the spare clothes inside, taking in the space that was still around.. He’d need to buy new clothes soon if he wasn’t going to sit in nothing but his boxers for a couple days. 

Just as he sets them down and throws a couple of socks beside them, he hears a muted clatter from outside. It causes him to stop, freezing in his tracks and slowly gazing to the doorway that held the door ajar. What could possibly make a noise as that? 

He scoffs when he realizes his brain trailed off, always begging to know more about the paranormal that he was certain wasn’t real. 

But the thunk that followed after just spurred his interest even more. He leaned to the side a bit to stare out the cracked space of the door to find what had been making the noise. 

It was empty.

“No way..” He murmurs halfway to himself, throwing open the door to hopefully gain a surge of chills on his skin. The room only held him and him alone, and that was it. Nothing else seemed to live nearby, so it had to be something important. 

Another thunk, but now Goro knew something was here. Whether it be an animal that seemed to live with him in the walls or some stalker, he just  _ had  _ to investigate. He steps out of the doorway and lightly presses his feet on the bare floor that squeaked with each movement. He had to be quiet if he was planning to find what he wanted to see. 

There’s nothing in the living room worth looking into, so he goes straight to the kitchen and carefully peaks..

There it was. 

A ghost was standing in the kitchen, pale and gray melding with the bland walls and a shocking blond spike at the top. It was tapping his foot and humming softly, the sound there but not at the same time. What..? 

Goro had to think about this. Should he really step in and startle the new ghost? It was obvious it didn’t see him, so he could easily take a step forward and make a move. For what, though? What could he  _ possibly  _ do to a ghost except talk to it? Sing? Give it a couple of poems? That’s stupid. If anything, he had to keep himself from doing anything that would scare it. 

If that meant walking away, then so be it. 

He sighs quietly and turns his head around to walk away from the kitchen, only to be met with dull brown eyes and shocking blond hair. His heart lurched at the sudden being so close to him, his shoulders being thrown up in surprise, shock, fear.. Everything. He even let out a comical yelp to go in with it, slouching down afterwards and backing away as quickly as he could to the counter. 

“Holy  _ shit _ , it’s someone my age.” 

Blinking once or twice, Goro has to regain his brain there to actually understand what just happened. So, he talked, said something about how he was his age, and then.. The ghost grins sharply, teeth crooked and smile lopsided. “Hi! I’m Ryuji Sakamoto, but you can call me Ryuji. Actually, please call me Ryuji. Sakamoto sounds weird when you’re my new roommate.” 

“Roommate?” He echoes, feeling every ounce of his literacy leave his body as he stared dumbly at the guy. “Huh?”

“Y’know.. My roommate? When you live with someone else..?”

“.... _ What? _ ”


End file.
